ADELAIDE SHALHOPE
Adelaide (b.1964) is an American/British artist living and working in the countryside north of Glasgow. She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Studies and a M.Ed. in childhood education.
Her professional creative career began in the U.S. (Boston) in the 1990’s as a sole proprietor textile artist where for many years she designed and created large installations and bespoke homeware and fashion accessories for local shops and interior decorators. Her move to the U.K in 2009 saw her more traditional textile practice transition into creating multi-faceted mixed media works, a shift that was partly inspired by several lengthy visits, and a six-month living period in Arctic Norway (Tromsø). In 2017 after taking a course at the Glasgow School of Art she began painting, which is now her primary practice.
Recent exhibitions include the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London (2023 and 2025); Irving Open 2025, Irving Gallery, Oxford; Lido Open 2024, Lido Stores, Margate; Visual Arts Scotland Centenary Exhibition (2024), Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; and her first solo show ‘Somewhere Between the Soul and the Centre of the Earth,’ at iota, Glasgow, in May, 2024.
“My works are invoked by my sense of the interconnectedness of spirit and the often strange beauty of the natural world. I sometimes feel that I am creating an unfolding story where subtle abstract forms are gently released in the environment where their energy then speaks.”
My process starts when I enter the studio to see what has happened previously, and I may simply sit quietly until I feel moved to begin. I then enter in to a painting, drawing, or a constructed collage, almost as if embarking on an inward journey led by my sense of curiosity and play. My intuitive marks and gestures are sometimes expressive and lyrical and sometimes intentionally ‘ramshackle.’ I find this balance important. I work primarily with oils and oil sticks on everything from a select size of stretched and unstretched canvas or linen, paper of various quality –including paper bags and cardboard – to found wood, mdf from the hardware store, and cradled board. I like how when working on each material my methods change spontaneously. I may draw more, I may construct a collage, or I may work with paint more thickly. I love this element of surprise. Ultimately, I want to share my work, and nothing makes me feel more pleased than when I find that a collector has resonated with a piece I have created and ‘gives it a good home’.
